Thoroughly unexcited.

[PROUD PAPA]

I'm ready for hockey to get going again right now. It's the only reason to turn on a t.v.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Are we talking about entire career or the last few years? We want to see that our core guys are growing and having more impact in big games. Thanks for going back to when Matthews was 18 and all that. Why did you ignore my past two years and final three games on the series analysis?

In the past two years Matthews speed up in the big games against Tampa in a big way. In the final three games of each series he scored six goals in six games and added an assist. Not good enough for you? He should be scoring at higher than a goal per game pace in big games?

If you would have paid attention to what my post was all about, I said it was about our core forwards (only looked at Matthews and Marner) scoring decreasing the longer the series went on, starting when they first made the playoffs back in 2017. I didn’t know I was supposed to start when they were older. Maybe you could make a post about that. smh!

How did he do in the Florida series? Funny that you conveniently left that out. In 4 career game 7‘s, Matthews has yet to score a goal, and has only 2 assists. He’s not so bad in game 6’s, with 4 career goals in 6 games.
And Marner has 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 career game 6’s, and 2 assists in 4 career game 7’s
If they want to squeeze every last nickel out of this organization, and a lot of that blame has to go on Shanahan, then they need to be able to produce when it matters the most, as in winning the deciding game in a series.

If I had to do it over again, I probably would have made it about them needing to give a hometown discount on their next contract negotiations, so that more could be allotted for better help on the defensive end and the bottom six.

 

[Nineteen67]

I'm ready for hockey to get going again right now. It's the only reason to turn on a t.v.

Funny you say that, I listen to Ben Wagner broadcast the Jays, but I wanted to watch on the TV this Saturday and had to hunt for the remote that hadn’t seen the draft.

 

[Metroid]

For scotch, Auchentoshan Three Wood is amazing value for the money! Also good value are Laphroaig 10 year, Laphroaig 1/4 cask and Lagavulin 8 if you like Islay malts.

Lately I've been drinking a lot of bourbon, more bang for the buck IMO with the ridiculous price bumps for single malts. My faves are the ones from Buffalo Trace that only come to LCBO twice a year or so and sell out instantly. Still, there are a few good ones regularly available, IMO you get the most best bang for the buck with Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Woodford Double Oaked and Knob Creek Single Barrel. Especially the Rare Breed, that stuff is amazing!

Cheers!

Il give some of those a shot! Thanks

 

[Gary Nylund]

Il give some of those a shot! Thanks

I've come to really like bourbon a ton over the last year or two. If you get Knob creek, make sure you get the single barrel, not the other ones. And it's 120 prood so watch out, I almost always drink my whiskey neat but that ones an exception, just a bit too hot for me so I drink it over a block of ice.

Cheers! )

 

[conFABulator]

If you would have paid attention to what my post was all about, I said it was about our core forwards (only looked at Matthews and Marner) scoring decreasing the longer the series went on, starting when they first made the playoffs back in 2017. I didn’t know I was supposed to start when they were older. Maybe you could make a post about that. smh!

How did he do in the Florida series? Funny that you conveniently left that out. In 4 career game 7‘s, Matthews has yet to score a goal, and has only 2 assists. He’s not so bad in game 6’s, with 4 career goals in 6 games.
And Marner has 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 career game 6’s, and 2 assists in 4 career game 7’s
If they want to squeeze every last nickel out of this organization, and a lot of that blame has to go on Shanahan, then they need to be able to produce when it matters the most, as in winning the deciding game in a series.

If I had to do it over again, I probably would have made it about them needing to give a hometown discount on their next contract negotiations, so that more could be allotted for better help on the defensive end and the bottom six.

Ok. I appreciate the "if I would do it all over again" finale. Thanks. Neither of us are here to fight, but a good old bar room debate is a nice way to talk hockey in the off-season...

Also, I did not "conveniently" leave out the Florida series, in fact I broke down the core 5's performance in this thread. They didn't score enough and obviously we need more from them, particularly Marner. My analysis showed how many points they got and how many Shots on Goal they had. They seemed to show up and the stats show we got goalied. We lost a 5 game series with two in OT against a goalie that has a .943 sv pctg. That also reads like excuses though and we have had enough of those after seven years. We needed more.

My whole point was that your comment that our "core" sops producing the deeper we go in the playoffs still doesn't ring true to me. The stats show otherwise. I broke down what our five big guys did in Round 1, games 5 to 7 two years ago and Round 1 games 4 to 6 (there was no 7) this past year. They showed up. They scored lots of goals, big goals and they won a series. They showed improvement and that was my point and why I don't like the 7 year stats...it's about their progression and four out of five of our big guys are showing improvement.

As for your final point. I agree that lack secondary scoring (bottom six) and this might point to roster construction. We don't have enough depth and we should have allocated the payroll differently, not 4 forwards making $40M. I will say id Covid didn't bring a flat cap this might have played our differently and that was the plan. If we had an extra $10M to spend and our big guys all locked up, this team would look a lot different. Not every team would have had $10M more to spend because they wouldn't all spend to the cap. Maybe we keep Hyman AND sign Bunting? Maybe we sign a FA third line centre AND have Kampf on the fourth line? Who knows. Maybe we could have pivoted sooner and traded on of the core four (Nylander? Marner?) Once Covid hit but I find it hard to blame anyone for how they handled Covid cap crunch. It was very unprecedented.

For the record, I like the secondary scoring we added in Bertuzzi, Domi, Knies, and Klingberg and think it is hard to argue that this team isn't a lot better than the one that STARTED last season. We can compare post TDL teams after this year's TDL.

I would consider moving Nylander if we could turn him into a top 4 D, depth and cap space, say Oleksiak and Wright if Seattle would do that. This would also give us room to re-sign Bertuzzi and/or Domi.

I am a positive guy, I see the potential and excuse the Covid era a bit. It sucks that it lined up with when we signed four guys to big deals. That's being a Lead fan I guess.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Ok. I appreciate the "if I would do it all over again" finale. Thanks. Neither of us are here to fight, but a good old bar room debate is a nice way to talk hockey in the off-season...

Also, I did not "conveniently" leave out the Florida series, in fact I broke down the core 5's performance in this thread. They didn't score enough and obviously we need more from them, particularly Marner. My analysis showed how many points they got and how many Shots on Goal they had. They seemed to show up and the stats show we got goalied. We lost a 5 game series with two in OT against a goalie that has a .943 sv pctg. That also reads like excuses though and we have had enough of those after seven years. We needed more.

My whole point was that your comment that our "core" sops producing the deeper we go in the playoffs still doesn't ring true to me. The stats show otherwise. I broke down what our five big guys did in Round 1, games 5 to 7 two years ago and Round 1 games 4 to 6 (there was no 7) this past year. They showed up. They scored lots of goals, big goals and they won a series. They showed improvement and that was my point and why I don't like the 7 year stats...it's about their progression and four out of five of our big guys are showing improvement.

As for your final point. I agree that lack secondary scoring (bottom six) and this might point to roster construction. We don't have enough depth and we should have allocated the payroll differently, not 4 forwards making $40M. I will say id Covid didn't bring a flat cap this might have played our differently and that was the plan. If we had an extra $10M to spend and our big guys all locked up, this team would look a lot different. Not every team would have had $10M more to spend because they wouldn't all spend to the cap. Maybe we keep Hyman AND sign Bunting? Maybe we sign a FA third line centre AND have Kampf on the fourth line? Who knows. Maybe we could have pivoted sooner and traded on of the core four (Nylander? Marner?) Once Covid hit but I find it hard to blame anyone for how they handled Covid cap crunch. It was very unprecedented.

For the record, I like the secondary scoring we added in Bertuzzi, Domi, Knies, and Klingberg and think it is hard to argue that this team isn't a lot better than the one that STARTED last season. We can compare post TDL teams after this year's TDL.

I would consider moving Nylander if we could turn him into a top 4 D, depth and cap space, say Oleksiak and Wright if Seattle would do that. This would also give us room to re-sign Bertuzzi and/or Domi.

I am a positive guy, I see the potential and excuse the Covid era a bit. It sucks that it lined up with when we signed four guys to big deals. That's being a Lead fan I guess.

Matthews 2023, last 3 games vs Panthers - 0 pts (not good at all)
last 3 vs Tampa - 4 pts (good)
2022, last 3 vs Tampa - 3 pts (okay)
2021, last 3 vs Montreal - 2 pts (not good enough)

Marner 2023, last 3 games vs Panthers - 2 pts with both coming in game 4 (not good enough)
last 3 vs Tampa - 3 pts (okay)
2022, last 3 vs Tampa - 2 pts (not good enough)
2021, last 3 vs Montreal - 1 pt, but none in last 2 games (horrible)

So I still hold on to what I said in my original post, the longer the series or maybe the playoffs go, these two are less effective.

In terms of the effects of Covid, we will have to agree to disagree. It affected all the teams, so if it hadn’t happened, the same would hold true. More cap space would have helped every team, not just the Leafs. I do agree that keeping Hyman would have been a good thing, he leaves it all on the ice.

Agree that adding Bertuzzi, Domi, and Knies is an improvement. Not so sure about Klingberg, hoping you’re right.

Also agree about trading Nylander for a top 4 dman plus whatever else we could get.

Unfortunately, I’m a glass half empty kind of guy. Here’s to hoping the glass is at least half full, if not clear to the top!

 

[conFABulator]

Matthews 2023, last 3 games vs Panthers - 0 pts (not good at all)
last 3 vs Tampa - 4 pts (good)
2022, last 3 vs Tampa - 3 pts (okay)
2021, last 3 vs Montreal - 2 pts (not good enough)

Marner 2023, last 3 games vs Panthers - 2 pts with both coming in game 4 (not good enough)
last 3 vs Tampa - 3 pts (okay)
2022, last 3 vs Tampa - 2 pts (not good enough)
2021, last 3 vs Montreal - 1 pt, but none in last 2 games (horrible)

So I still hold on to what I said in my original post, the longer the series or maybe the playoffs go, these two are less effective.

In terms of the effects of Covid, we will have to agree to disagree. It affected all the teams, so if it hadn’t happened, the same would hold true. More cap space would have helped every team, not just the Leafs. I do agree that keeping Hyman would have been a good thing, he leaves it all on the ice.

Agree that adding Bertuzzi, Domi, and Knies is an improvement. Not so sure about Klingberg, hoping you’re right.

Also agree about trading Nylander for a top 4 dman plus whatever else we could get.

Unfortunately, I’m a glass half empty kind of guy. Here’s to hoping the glass is at least half full, if not clear to the top!

Actually, your original post said the "core" and then you admitted you just meant Matthews and Marner. I know you checked yourself, but let's remember why I commented at all.

Yes, we will agree to disagree on Covid. The Leafs are a team that spends to the cap, no matter what the cap is...so that hurt us right away, as it stands we are spending about the same as 20+ other teams. That was not the case before Covid and won't be the case coming out of it. We also literally locked in four very expensive pieces that included a rising cap as key to our strategy. Name another team that had that sort of timing "luck".

I chose to look at the past two years and you went back to the Covid series against Montreal. Clearly the further back you go the more it helps your argument and the more recent look, the more it helps my position. So, how about we stop there.

As I said, we agree that the production against Florida was not enough... obviously. I took a deep dive into this in this thread. We had an impressive amount of chances and shots. I would be more concerned if we didn't. Again, we lost to a .943 save percentage. Are you as down on the Carolina core? They got goalied too.

I am a fan of the Leafs because I love hockey...being glass half empty doesn't work for me ..it impacts my enjoyment of it all. Case in point, I wouldn't describe Matthews being a point per game against Tampa as "okay".

 

[Captain Crunch]

Actually, your original post said the "core" and then you admitted you just meant Matthews and Marner. I know you checked yourself, but let's remember why I commented at all.

Yes, we will agree to disagree on Covid. The Leafs are a team that spends to the cap, no matter what the cap is...so that hurt us right away, as it stands we are spending about the same as 20+ other teams. That was not the case before Covid and won't be the case coming out of it. We also literally locked in four very expensive pieces that included a rising cap as key to our strategy. Name another team that had that sort of timing "luck".

I chose to look at the past two years and you went back to the Covid series against Montreal. Clearly the further back you go the more it helps your argument and the more recent look, the more it helps my position. So, how about we stop there.

As I said, we agree that the production against Florida was not enough... obviously. I took a deep dive into this in this thread. We had an impressive amount of chances and shots. I would be more concerned if we didn't. Again, we lost to a .943 save percentage. Are you as down on the Carolina core? They got goalied too.

I am a fan of the Leafs because I love hockey...being glass half empty doesn't work for me ..it impacts my enjoyment of it all. Case in point, I wouldn't describe Matthews being a point per game against Tampa as "okay".

Yes, we got “goalied”, as did Carolina, but we always get it over with in the first round.

Matthews certainly did his part against Tampa the past two years, cannot argue with that, but he disappeared against Florida, as did Marner in game 5. If you want to be paid like they do, then you need to be better than “good”. You need to be able to put the team on your back and carry them on. Tell me when either Matthews or Marner have been able to do that. Simple answer, they haven’t.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

Yes, we got “goalied”, as did Carolina, but we always get it over with in the first round.

Matthews certainly did his part against Tampa the past two years, cannot argue with that, but he disappeared against Florida, as did Marner in game 5. If you want to be paid like they do, then you need to be better than “good”. You need to be able to put the team on your back and carry them on. Tell me when either Matthews or Marner have been able to do that. Simple answer, they haven’t.

Our big boys don't like the rough stuff, this is pretty common knowledge. The second Florida started gooning it you knew the series was over.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Our big boys don't like the rough stuff, this is pretty common knowledge. The second Florida started gooning it you knew the series was over.

The minute they won that Tampa series, the pressure was off of them.

It was obvious they didn’t play with the same urgency and intensity in Games 1-3 against Florida as they did against Tampa.

I feel like they thought they actually accomplished something and without that massive pressure on them, decided to play their usual phone it in style and got bitch slapped.

It wasn’t until Game 4 that we saw the same team we got in round 1 again but by that point it was already too late.

 

[Da Cool Rula]

For scotch, Auchentoshan Three Wood is amazing value for the money! Also good value are Laphroaig 10 year, Laphroaig 1/4 cask and Lagavulin 8 if you like Islay malts.

Lately I've been drinking a lot of bourbon, more bang for the buck IMO with the ridiculous price bumps for single malts. My faves are the ones from Buffalo Trace that only come to LCBO twice a year or so and sell out instantly. Still, there are a few good ones regularly available, IMO you get the most best bang for the buck with Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Woodford Double Oaked and Knob Creek Single Barrel. Especially the Rare Breed, that stuff is amazing!

Cheers!

Lovely choices. Please add "ARDBEG to da world!"

 

[Larcos_Unal]

The minute they won that Tampa series, the pressure was off of them.

It was obvious they didn’t play with the same urgency and intensity in Games 1-3 against Florida as they did against Tampa.

I feel like they thought they actually accomplished something and without that massive pressure on them, decided to play their usual phone it in style and got bitch slapped.

It wasn’t until Game 4 that we saw the same team we got in round 1 again but by that point it was already too late.

Complacency is a part of their DNA, let's sign them long term and see what happens.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I know I'm in the minorty but I'm not as down on this team as so many others.

I LOVE the depth on the wing, I mean yeah I'd like to see Lafferty waived or traded, and a guy like Comtois brought in, if he's in the clear from team Canada, or Josh Bailey, or Pius Suter.

But that's not because Lafferty is a bad 4th liner he's not, but in my opinion there are better, cheaper 4th line players available.

Beyond that though I LOVE the depth on the wing.

I know the defense is better to start this year than it was opening night last year, that's not even up for debate, Justin Holl is not on the opening night roster, Jake McCabe and John Klingberg are that's an upgrade.

I have more confidence in our goaltending tanden this year than last year, though I admit I don't have full confidence in Our goalie tanden, I need to see more than 42 games from Samsonov, but those 42 games were strong.

I need to see more than 10 games from Woll but those 10 games have been strong.

I would like a veteran 3rd goalie.

The only REAL area of concern for me is 3rd line center, I don't like there, I think he's better suited on the 4th line.

I think an upgrade on 3rd line center is needed.

Beyond that I think this is a VERY strong team and I can't wait to watch them.

Especially the Bertuzzi Matthews Marner line that's going to be fun.

 

[conFABulator]

Yes, we got “goalied”, as did Carolina, but we always get it over with in the first round.

Matthews certainly did his part against Tampa the past two years, cannot argue with that, but he disappeared against Florida, as did Marner in game 5. If you want to be paid like they do, then you need to be better than “good”. You need to be able to put the team on your back and carry them on. Tell me when either Matthews or Marner have been able to do that. Simple answer, they haven’t.

Why do you not want to even try to recognize progress? How can you say "we always get it over with in the first round" when we just beat Vasilevsky in the first round?

How do you feel about Carolina? Would you be a happier fan of the Leafs had lost 12 consecutive Conference Finals' games like Carolina has?

All we can measure is progress and you can argue we aren't making enough of it, but this team is progressing.

Take a look at Tampa and Colorado, teams that bottomed our before rebuilding to a cup. What did those build ups look like? How many years did they wait from bottom to cup? How many years after drafting Stamkos did it take for the Lightning to win their first cup? How about Colorado after bottoming out and getting Landeskog? Seriously, look it up. You might be surprised.

It takes a while and it takes patience. Those teams made some moves long the way but they largely relied on their drafted cores. I am sure they are glad they didn't give in to the impatience of some of their fan base.

As for your assessment of the players...how many goals did Tkachuk get against the Leafs in Round 2?

 

[LeafEgo]

Why do you not want to even try to recognize progress? How can you say "we always get it over with in the first round" when we just beat Vasilevsky in the first round?

How do you feel about Carolina? Would you be a happier fan of the Leafs had lost 12 consecutive Conference Finals' games like Carolina has?

All we can measure is progress and you can argue we aren't making enough of it, but this team is progressing.

Take a look at Tampa and Colorado, teams that bottomed our before rebuilding to a cup. What did those build ups look like? How many years did they wait from bottom to cup? How many years after drafting Stamkos did it take for the Lightning to win their first cup? How about Colorado after bottoming out and getting Landeskog? Seriously, look it up. You might be surprised.

It takes a while and it takes patience. Those teams made some moves long the way but they largely relied on their drafted cores. I am sure they are glad they didn't give in to the impatience of some of their fan base.

As for your assessment of the players...how many goals did Tkachuk get against the Leafs in Round 2?

Those builds and their drafted cores were very different. Mack's post elc contract three years in was like 6M. The asset capital, potential, and opportunity was not comparable to ours.

What were your five year expectations for the Bolts when they drafted Stammer?
What were your five year expectations for the Leafs in 2018?
What about Chicago now?

The Hawks/Pens are a closer representation.

It might take patience and work out in the end but we wasted our first five years in a way that the Bolts/Avs did not.

We haven't made progress, just went sideways. Of course would be happier making the final four three times. Excited to see the second half of the era play out though.

 

[conFABulator]

Those builds and their drafted cores were very different. Mack's post elc contract three years in was like 6M. The asset capital, potential, and opportunity was not comparable to ours.

What were your five year expectations for the Bolts when they drafted Stammer?
What were your five year expectations for the Leafs in 2018?
What about Chicago now?

The Hawks/Pens are a closer representation.

It might take patience and work out in the end but we wasted our first five years in a way that the Bolts/Avs did not.

We haven't made progress, just went sideways. Of course would be happier making the final four three times. Excited to see the second half of the era play out though.

Can you explain that a little more? I am not sure why the Hawks/Pens, who both won quickly into their rebuilds in a much different cap environment are good comparables while the more recent winners (that took much much longer) are not?

What about Washington? What about St Louis?

 

[Hellcat]

For scotch, Auchentoshan Three Wood is amazing value for the money! Also good value are Laphroaig 10 year, Laphroaig 1/4 cask and Lagavulin 8 if you like Islay malts.

Lately I've been drinking a lot of bourbon, more bang for the buck IMO with the ridiculous price bumps for single malts. My faves are the ones from Buffalo Trace that only come to LCBO twice a year or so and sell out instantly. Still, there are a few good ones regularly available, IMO you get the most best bang for the buck with Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Woodford Double Oaked and Knob Creek Single Barrel. Especially the Rare Breed, that stuff is amazing!

Cheers!

Laphroaig is my go to choice for Scotch, has a really strong smokey peaty taste, their Islay Single Scotch 10 year is my go to. Phenomenal Scotch. My problem is I cant have just one, with every other liquor, beer wine, I'm fine to have one and then walk away not Scotch, that tends to be a celebration type drink for me. Good call @Gary Nylund on the Laphroaig 10 year Single Malt.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Laphroaig is my go to choice for Scotch, has a really strong smokey peaty taste, their Islay Single Scotch 10 year is my go to. Phenomenal Scotch. My problem is I cant have just one, with every other liquor, beer wine, I'm fine to have one and then walk away not Scotch, that tends to be a celebration type drink for me. Good call @Gary Nylund on the Laphroaig 10 year Single Malt.

It is hard to just have one, I have the same problem.

Lagavulin is my all-time favorite but it's gone up so much in price like most other single malts. But Laphroaig, not sure why but that 10 year old hasn't gone up nearly as much in price as most of the others in that price range and it's also fantastic. The best two quality single malts available at the LCBO in terms of bang for the buck IMO are the Laphroaig 10 year, and the Auchentoshan Three Wood. I love the Islay style so that's what I drink most of the time (Laphroaig, Lagavulin 16/8/Offerman Edition, Caol Ila) but Auchentoshan Three Wood is also really good, it's the only one I keep on hand that's not an Islay whiskey.

I've really developed a love for bourbon though, I wish we had a better selection available to us. They make so much of it in the US, literally hundreds of bourbons I'd love to try but they don't export much cause they just drink it all. LOL.

 

[ZEBROA]

Sure is a lot of text in a thread no one wanted....

 

[LeafEgo]

Can you explain that a little more? I am not sure why the Hawks/Pens, who both won quickly into their rebuilds in a much different cap environment are good comparables while the more recent winners (that took much much longer) are not?

What about Washington? What about St Louis?

Probably none are great comparables but Pens/Hawks had multiple superstars rise up quickly and around the same time. Matty scored 40 his rookie year while Mack took six for example.

Just have to ask yourself what you think the expectations were for any of those teams in their first five years when they didnt win, and how does that compare to the Leafs.

Our three superstars hit fast, around the same time when we became a playoff team, and on a trajectory of recently being in last place. The Caps series, our first, was shockingly the best so far. What were the five year expectations once we signed JT and how did those differ to the other teams? How did our performance compare in series wins during those years?

Bedard may win his first cup with the Hawks in 5 to 10 years but that doesn't necessarily mean there was a high level of mgmt failure in the first 5 years.

Even if the Leafs go on to win in a similar amount of time to some of those other teams doesn't mean we didn't waste many years of opportunity in a way that they did not, and thats a real bummer.

 

[Hellcat]

It is hard to just have one, I have the same problem.

Lagavulin is my all-time favorite but it's gone up so much in price like most other single malts. But Laphroaig, not sure why but that 10 year old hasn't gone up nearly as much in price as most of the others in that price range and it's also fantastic. The best two quality single malts available at the LCBO in terms of bang for the buck IMO are the Laphroaig 10 year, and the Auchentoshan Three Wood. I love the Islay style so that's what I drink most of the time (Laphroaig, Lagavulin 16/8/Offerman Edition, Caol Ila) but Auchentoshan Three Wood is also really good, it's the only one I keep on hand that's not an Islay whiskey.

I've really developed a love for bourbon though, I wish we had a better selection available to us. They make so much of it in the US, literally hundreds of bourbons I'd love to try but they don't export much cause they just drink it all. LOL.

IMO it's not a starter Scotch, the strong smokey peat flavour turns off every first time Scotch drinker that I've shared a drink with. it really is for people who are particular to that style.

Burbon is too sweet for my taste buds but I do know a lot of people who like it, I bought a bottle of this stuff (pic below) 5 to 7 years ago and it still sits on my liquor cabinet, unopened. The guy at the liquor store said it was an underrated spirit.

I like my Gray Goose vodka, it tends to be my first go to at game time, I like my game time Caesar , Beer is my most common drink after work, I like Creemore, Stella and there is a craft brewery from PEI called Upstreet, they make an outstanding Red Ale, a great Ceczh Pilsner, good quality, clean refreshing beer,

 

[Gary Nylund]

IMO it's not a starter Scotch, the strong smokey peat flavour turns off every first time Scotch drinker that I've shared a drink with. it really is for people who are particular to that style.

Burbon is too sweet for my taste buds but I do know a lot of people who like it, I bought a bottle of this stuff (pic below) 5 to 7 years ago and it still sits on my liquor cabinet, unopened. The guy at the liquor store said it was an underrated spirit.

I like my Gray Goose vodka, it tends to be my first go to at game time, I like my game time Caesar , Beer is my most common drink after work, I like Creemore, Stella and there is a craft brewery from PEI called Upstreet, they make an outstanding Red Ale, a great Ceczh Pilsner, good quality, clean refreshing beer,

Not a starter scotch - absolutely true.

I've found this to be a great site if interested in trying something new - Search Liquor | Distiller - ignore the score out of 100, I've found that to be completely useless. Instead, look at the score out of 5, I believe that's based on user ratings and I've found that to be quite reliable. So if you're thinking of shelling out 100 bucks or whatever on a bottle, good to consult that first and see what other people think. BTW Laphroaig 10 scores very highly, in fact it scores higher than many single malts at LCBO that cost a fair bit more.

I pretty much never drink anything other than beer and whiskey any more and Creemore is great!

Even if the Leafs go on to win in a similar amount of time to some of those other teams doesn't mean we didn't waste many years of opportunity in a way that they did not, and thats a real bummer.

Yup. I cringe every time someone says something like "they'll figure it out" with our alleged superstars in their prime and so many squandered opportunities in the books already.

 

[conFABulator]

I know I'm in the minorty but I'm not as down on this team as so many others.

I LOVE the depth on the wing, I mean yeah I'd like to see Lafferty waived or traded, and a guy like Comtois brought in, if he's in the clear from team Canada, or Josh Bailey, or Pius Suter.

But that's not because Lafferty is a bad 4th liner he's not, but in my opinion there are better, cheaper 4th line players available.

Beyond that though I LOVE the depth on the wing.

I know the defense is better to start this year than it was opening night last year, that's not even up for debate, Justin Holl is not on the opening night roster, Jake McCabe and John Klingberg are that's an upgrade.

I have more confidence in our goaltending tanden this year than last year, though I admit I don't have full confidence in Our goalie tanden, I need to see more than 42 games from Samsonov, but those 42 games were strong.

I need to see more than 10 games from Woll but those 10 games have been strong.

I would like a veteran 3rd goalie.

The only REAL area of concern for me is 3rd line center, I don't like there, I think he's better suited on the 4th line.

I think an upgrade on 3rd line center is needed.

Beyond that I think this is a VERY strong team and I can't wait to watch them.

Especially the Bertuzzi Matthews Marner line that's going to be fun.

Probably none are great comparables but Pens/Hawks had multiple superstars rise up quickly and around the same time. Matty scored 40 his rookie year while Mack took six for example.

Just have to ask yourself what you think the expectations were for any of those teams in their first five years when they didnt win, and how does that compare to the Leafs.

Our three superstars hit fast, around the same time when we became a playoff team, and on a trajectory of recently being in last place. The Caps series, our first, was shockingly the best so far. What were the five year expectations once we signed JT and how did those differ to the other teams? How did our performance compare in series wins during those years?

Bedard may win his first cup with the Hawks in 5 to 10 years but that doesn't necessarily mean there was a high level of mgmt failure in the first 5 years.

Even if the Leafs go on to win in a similar amount of time to some of those other teams doesn't mean we didn't waste many years of opportunity in a way that they did not, and thats a real bummer.

Just so I can be clear, I am not at all happy with not having made more progress the past seven years. That's not my point.

My point is that based on most of the recent cup winners it takes time to get from rock bottom rebuild to SC winner. For this reason I am not a proponent of blowing this thing up. The cup winners all showed patience. They made moves in the front office, behind the bench, and on the ice and then they won.

Tampa added Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevsky and then it took them a few years... I think seven or eight from the Stamkos draft.

Colorado drafted Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen and then won year later

Wasghington and St. Louis took time after drafting Ovechkin and Pietrangelo.

Chicago and Pittsburgh were a long time ago. The cap was new and things were different. Too long ago to make comparisons I believe.

Do I wish we had won yet? Yes. Do I wish we had made more progress? Yes. Do I think we should make moves? Yes, and we did fire the GM and have significant roster turnover. Do I think we should blow it up? No (not saying you are saying that)

 

[LeafEgo]

Just so I can be clear, I am not at all happy with not having made more progress the past seven years. That's not my point.

My point is that based on most of the recent cup winners it takes time to get from rock bottom rebuild to SC winner. For this reason I am not a proponent of blowing this thing up. The cup winners all showed patience. They made moves in the front office, behind the bench, and on the ice and then they won.

Tampa added Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevsky and then it took them a few years... I think seven or eight from the Stamkos draft.

Colorado drafted Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen and then won year later

Wasghington and St. Louis took time after drafting Ovechkin and Pietrangelo.

Chicago and Pittsburgh were a long time ago. The cap was new and things were different. Too long ago to make comparisons I believe.

Do I wish we had won yet? Yes. Do I wish we had made more progress? Yes. Do I think we should make moves? Yes, and we did fire the GM and have significant roster turnover. Do I think we should blow it up? No (not saying you are saying that)

I'm tracking all that - I may have gotten lost somewhere in the chain. Blowing it all up would be a bit crazy.

We've gone sideways and are behind schedule in terms of making the most of the opportunity we've had.

Hoping for the best going forward as we navigate a new program.